Introducing the latest episode of Eye On Franchising! In this week's podcast, we feature Michael Haith, the CEO and owner of Teriyaki Madness, a successful franchise in the food business. Join us as Michael shares his inspiring journey from a journalism degree to successful entrepreneurship in the restaurant industry. With his extensive experience in turning Maui Wowi and Doc Popcorn into global brands with hundreds of units, Haith shares his insights on finding the right franchise opportunity for individuals looking to enter the industry. He also discusses the importance of building a strong foundation and hiring experienced people in building franchise systems. This podcast highlights the success of Teriyaki Madness, which grew quickly even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on transparency, honesty, and extensive training and support for franchisees. Tune in now to discover the secrets of success in the franchise industry, including the importance of realistic training, marketing strategies, and culture and community fit. Don't miss out on this exciting episode!- Michael Haith's background- Perception of entrepreneurs- Finding the right franchise- Success stories with Maui Wowi and Doc Popcorn- Building a strong foundation- Importance of profitability for franchisees- Qualities of potential franchise owners- Realistic training for franchisees- Culture and community fit- Options for franchise expansion- Importance of marketing- Aligning interests and skills- Researching franchise culture and community KEY POINTS [0:0:16] Unlock your potential with Ion Franchising and discover the perfect business opportunity to suit your unique investment level, mindset, skill set, and life experiences - with over 650 franchises to choose from! [0:5:13] Within a few short years, the founders of Doc Popcorn achieved remarkable success, growing from an initial concept to a business with 100 units thanks to the speaker's proven expertise in the industry. [0:9:56] Our commitment to profitability has empowered our multi-unit franchisees to achieve remarkable success, thanks to our emphasis on culture, collaboration, and cutting-edge technology. [0:11:44] Experience the deliciousness of Teriyaki Madness, with 130 locations offering delectable, healthy teriyaki bowls crafted from only the freshest ingredients. [0:13:46] With our unique program, we empower aspiring entrepreneurs to realize their dreams of owning their own business - without any prior experience or knowledge - through comprehensive resources and training. [0:14:46] By embracing transparency and leveraging cutting-edge technology, Teriyaki Madness has developed an unprecedented culture of collaboration that has propelled them to incredible success. [0:18:51] The importance of a cultural match in franchise systems cannot be overstated - it can make the difference between building strong relationships with your community or facing conflict and alienation. [0:18:51] Franchisees are an invaluable source of knowledge and experience, providing invaluable support and best practices - empowering franchise systems to dramatically increase success rates through franchisee-driven communication and follow-up training. [0:24:54] Cultural fit is essential for sustainable franchise success, and financing options can help overcome financial obstacles and unlock growth potential. [0:26:35] By leveraging their franchise's unique marketing tactics and powerful voice, savvy franchisees can differentiate themselves in a crowded market and cultivate a fiercely loyal customer base. [0:29:9] Uncover the truth: Conduct in-depth research to ensure your franchise's cultural beliefs and values align with your own, and confirm with franchisees for a perfect cultural fit. [0:32:26] Michael Haith is an accomplished and ambitious serial entrepreneur - at just 15, he launched his first business and is now the successful owner and CEO of Teriyaki Madness, a rapidly-growing global franchise brand that originated as a humble retail smoothie company. --- Have you heard the news? We are officially on YouTube. Come check out a few videos have have and give me a follow! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwoAdrkPZmveJt5AQRDk8WA --- Lance Graulich Franchise Consulting Services from ION Franchising Eye On Franchising
Introducing the latest episode of Eye On Franchising! In this week's podcast, we feature Michael Haith, the CEO and owner of Teriyaki Madness, a successful franchise in the food business. Join us as Michael shares his inspiring journey from a journalism degree to successful entrepreneurship in the restaurant industry. With his extensive experience in turning Maui Wowi and Doc Popcorn into global brands with hundreds of units, Haith shares his insights on finding the right franchise opportunity for individuals looking to enter the industry. He also discusses the importance of building a strong foundation and hiring experienced people in building franchise systems. This podcast highlights the success of Teriyaki Madness, which grew quickly even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on transparency, honesty, and extensive training and support for franchisees. Tune in now to discover the secrets of success in the franchise industry, including the importance of realistic training, marketing strategies, and culture and community fit. Don't miss out on this exciting episode!
- Michael Haith's background
- Perception of entrepreneurs
- Finding the right franchise
- Success stories with Maui Wowi and Doc Popcorn
- Building a strong foundation
- Importance of profitability for franchisees
- Qualities of potential franchise owners
- Realistic training for franchisees
- Culture and community fit
- Options for franchise expansion
- Importance of marketing
- Aligning interests and skills
- Researching franchise culture and community
KEY POINTS
[0:0:16] Unlock your potential with Ion Franchising and discover the perfect business opportunity to suit your unique investment level, mindset, skill set, and life experiences - with over 650 franchises to choose from!
[0:5:13] Within a few short years, the founders of Doc Popcorn achieved remarkable success, growing from an initial concept to a business with 100 units thanks to the speaker's proven expertise in the industry.
[0:9:56] Our commitment to profitability has empowered our multi-unit franchisees to achieve remarkable success, thanks to our emphasis on culture, collaboration, and cutting-edge technology.
[0:11:44] Experience the deliciousness of Teriyaki Madness, with 130 locations offering delectable, healthy teriyaki bowls crafted from only the freshest ingredients.
[0:13:46] With our unique program, we empower aspiring entrepreneurs to realize their dreams of owning their own business - without any prior experience or knowledge - through comprehensive resources and training.
[0:14:46] By embracing transparency and leveraging cutting-edge technology, Teriyaki Madness has developed an unprecedented culture of collaboration that has propelled them to incredible success.
[0:18:51] The importance of a cultural match in franchise systems cannot be overstated - it can make the difference between building strong relationships with your community or facing conflict and alienation.
[0:18:51] Franchisees are an invaluable source of knowledge and experience, providing invaluable support and best practices - empowering franchise systems to dramatically increase success rates through franchisee-driven communication and follow-up training.
[0:24:54] Cultural fit is essential for sustainable franchise success, and financing options can help overcome financial obstacles and unlock growth potential.
[0:26:35] By leveraging their franchise's unique marketing tactics and powerful voice, savvy franchisees can differentiate themselves in a crowded market and cultivate a fiercely loyal customer base.
[0:29:9] Uncover the truth: Conduct in-depth research to ensure your franchise's cultural beliefs and values align with your own, and confirm with franchisees for a perfect cultural fit.
[0:32:26] Michael Haith is an accomplished and ambitious serial entrepreneur - at just 15, he launched his first business and is now the successful owner and CEO of Teriyaki Madness, a rapidly-growing global franchise brand that originated as a humble retail smoothie company.
---
Have you heard the news? We are officially on YouTube. Come check out a few videos have have and give me a follow!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwoAdrkPZmveJt5AQRDk8WA
---
Franchise Consulting Services from ION Franchising
Michael 00:00:00
Lance Graulich 00:00:02 Welcome to Eyeon Franchising. Are you looking for business opportunities? Well, you are in the right place. We represent over 650 franchises and business opportunities. We will help you find your perfect franchise for free. We even have a free assessment on our website that will help us determine what the best businesses for you based on your investment level mindset, skill set and life experiences. This is Eyeon Franchising, where we share our vision for your franchise future. I'm your host, Lance Graulich. Each week we will speak to fascinating folks from the world of franchising, franchisors and founders, franchise funders and franchisees. Are you looking to find your perfect franchise? Or perhaps you are an independent business owner looking to grow and scale your business by setting up a franchise. Either way, our team can help you. Ion Franchising, where you will learn the A to Z's of franchise. Hello everyone, and welcome back to another fabulous episode of Eyeon Franchising. This is Lance Graulich, your host as usual. So, today a lot of people think that entrepreneurs are crazy or even mad, in fact. Well, this gentleman today is an incredibly special guest. A serial entrepreneur. Spent his life in the food business, I guess. a foodie of sorts. We'll find out. Certainly a visionary. Certainly he will be unleashing the madness across the nation. This is Michael Haith. He is the CEO and well, and the owner of Teriyaki Madness. Welcome, Michael.
Michael 00:01:48 Thank you.
Lance Graulich 00:01:49 Michael. I'm excited to have you. You have got a hot brand. You've been at the helm as owner and CEO of Teriyaki Madness, how many years now? Ten years. Twelve years.
Michael 00:02:01 Oh, gosh. Eleven years.
Lance Graulich 00:02:04 Eleven years.
Michael 00:02:05 Long time. 16. Yeah, it's been a while.
Lance Graulich 00:02:08 Love it. So let's go way back, way back in center field, so to speak. How did Michael get into franchising? How did Michael get into the restaurant business? Where did this all begin? I mean, most people don't grow up thinking they're going to get into the franchise world. So how did it all happen for you?
Michael 00:02:26 No, started as a bus boy at 15 years old as my first job in a restaurant in Denver. Went to college, did some waiting tables. Always been in the restaurant business? franchising boy. I became a franchisee ah, when I was 28 years old, of a little restaurant brand in Denver and then bought into Maui. Maui. As a franchisor partner.
Lance Graulich 00:02:56 So wait, I have to hear this. What were you in college for in the first place?
Michael 00:03:01 Oh,, yeah, my journalism degree. Don't use that very frequently.
Lance Graulich 00:03:06 So journalism degree and so, silly question. Your vision was to be a journalist and somehow you enjoyed the restaurant business and decided to stay in that lane.
Michael 00:03:18 I graduated in 1984, which was a very long time ago, and there was a recession going on, so I actually had to take whatever job I could get. And my path led back to restaurants.
Lance Graulich 00:03:31 I love it. So when did you realize that you were good at that? You obviously liked it and it was, I guess, the path of least resistance because you had been doing it, you felt comfortable, right?
Michael 00:03:44 Yeah, I like working in restaurants. It's great for someone right out of college, young. It's fun, there's flexibility. I like food, but I actually like the business. And being around a bunch of other like minded people is always fun.
Lance Graulich 00:03:59 Love it. So tell me a little more about Maui Wowie. How long did you do that and how did you do that brand? I mean, you acquired it or you created it? I don't recall.
Michael 00:04:10 Well, I partnered with the founder, Jill Summerhave. I saw that as it was one of the very first retail smoothies. It did special events, and I had a company that really did food and beverage for special events as a consulting management firm. And I saw the founders of Maui Wowie kind of roll their kiosk into the Utah Arts Festival and they had lines for the entire event. And they were making twelve smoothies a minute and dumping money into plastic garbage bags as fast as they could. And I said, wow, that looks like a great idea. I ended up partnering with them and we ended up franchising it. Ended up buying the company from the founders or the majority of the company. And we built that thing to, a global brand withhundreds and hundreds of units. And it was incredibly successful.
Lance Graulich 00:05:06 Love it. And then you parlayed that and moved.
Michael 00:05:09 On to What Next Doc Popcorn, a brand out of Boulder. The founders approached me and said, hey, can you do the same thing that you did with Maui Wowi? And we really started doing small footprints in shopping malls and it was all natural flavored popcorn, a terrific product. And we rode that horse for a little while. We built 100 units within just a few years. And that one I had maui wowie. I had that one. I actually was involved with a, company called Raintree, which really helped develop young franchisors and showed them how to work and recruit young franchisees.
Lance Graulich 00:05:52 I'm a big fan of Raintree.
Michael 00:05:54 Raintree is a fantastic company. And boy, to fast forward a little, foreshadowing, sold everything when I discovered Teriyaki Madness.
Lance Graulich 00:06:05 Love it. And tell that story on, u how you discovered that and how you got involved.
Michael 00:06:11 Yeah, I was approached by the founders to help them get out of Las Vegas. They had seven units in Las Vegas. They were all incredibly successful. I told them, no, I've got a boatload of companies here, I have my hands full. And they said, the next time you're in Las Vegas, we'll buy you lunch. I had no idea what Teriyaki was. Next time I was in Las Vegas for a conference, I stopped by. Loved the food. It ticked off so many boxes, big bowls, of food, um, healthy but delicious. And I said, you know what? I love the product, but once again, too busy. They said, let's look at the P and L's, let's show you the financials. And I've never seen anything like that. So I said, okay, I'll invest in the company, I'll sit on the board of directors. And, yeah, it went great for a few years. And as we really expanded out of Las Vegas and got some traction, uh, the founders realized that they were better restaurant tours than they were franchiseors. And I bought the company.
Lance Graulich 00:07:15 Love it. Well, Michael, so describe, a little bit more specifically how you sum up what Teriyaki Madness is. It's obviously teriyaki bowls. It's healthy, but give your, uh, additional description of that for those that have never heard of Teriyaki Madness.
Michael 00:07:34 Well, so we're up to 130 shops, so I'm sure there's still a few folks who haven't heard of Teriyaki Madness.
Lance Graulich 00:07:41 Just a few?
Michael 00:07:43 Yeah. Well, we're getting there. I don't have thousands, but you, know what? Let's start with it's. Delicious food. That's healthy. I very much believe that we eat delicious food, and if we can get healthy in there, that's awesome. Versus there's not that many. We go out, we talk about healthy, but we don't necessarily make it a habit. and that's what I liked about it, first and foremost. The second was that it's ethnic food. It's something that not everybody's doing. There was very little competition. There still is very little competition. But let's go to the business model. They had developed a business model of 16 to 1800 square feet in strip malls. So it was very accessible real estate. The investment was relatively low. The business was simple, amazingly simple. It was just bowls of chicken teriyaki with some steak and tofu thrown in.
Lance Graulich 00:08:42 And which kind of rice would you like?
Michael 00:08:44 Brown or white rice, fried rice or noodles? We have 85 ingredients, which, when you look at most businesses, they have hundreds and hundreds of ingredients. So I looked at the numbers and I looked at the business model, and it really was okay, I am willing to go all in. When I did this, I was about 50 years old. I said, you know what? I think I've got one more in me if I really give it my all sold. All my other businesses dove in and we decided, you know what, let's build a strong foundation. Let's hire people who have a whole lot of experience in building franchise systems. And in Denver, for those who don't know, it's a fast casual mecca. Noodles smash Burger chipotle. Whole lot of folks have built fast, casual franchises here. And there was a ton of talent. And they brought all of the processes and systems from these great brands to Teriyaki Madness. And we really focused on building a strong foundation and a great team. I really believe in technology, in the restaurant business, not everybody did. I think with COVID they all realized that perhaps they needed more technology. But we had an app. We believed in third party delivery. We believed in the uber eats of the world and the DoorDashes. And we were all set up and we said, okay, we're now ready to work with some great franchisees who match our culture, want to build a community of collaboration and sharing, and let's go build together and ready to go. And then COVID hit and wow. What happened was our technology and the app and the third party delivery, we were ready for it. We had built it all for convenience and answering all of the questions and all of the needs of our customers. But COVID just fed right into us. And our shops soared 35% in sales and their dining rooms were closed. So, boy, we just kind of I think Wayne Gretzky said he tries to, uh, skate to where the puck is going to be. We just got lucky. The puck met us right where we were going, and boy, the rest is history. And that's how we grew so quickly. And once again, we had a team. We've got 53 people here supporting 130 shops. So we're built for growth and we were just ready for it and we got lucky.
Lance Graulich 00:11:15 That's awesome. So what is that investment? 1600 sqft or so what is that.
Michael 00:11:21 Typical investment these days, it ranges between a few hundred thousand dollars if you're in perhaps New York City or somewhere, it gets to about 6650.
Lance Graulich 00:11:32 Got you. And I understand the new, FDD, the franchise disclosure document is out and that updated item 19 is pretty nice. So, uh, what would you like to share on that? Obviously, results may vary, but the idea of the item 19 is a pretty nice history of making some money at Teriyaki Madness.
Michael 00:11:53 I appreciate the disclaimer. Before I start speaking, our top shop does $2.7 million out of 1600 sqft. So boy, you know what? And that franchisee works hard. He's opening a second and he opened a second, he's opening his third. He's doing more. Uh, we believe in ROI. We don't need giant sales, we need giant profits. And if the franchisees are profitable, they're going to go ahead and expand and grow. And that's really what we believe is kind of a cultural cornerstone for us. Transparency. In our FDD, our franchise disclosure document, we want there to be truth. We want the proper expectations, uhfor anybody who comes into our system to be realized. One thing that drives me crazy is salespeople who oversell and expectations aren't met. And then folks within a community or someone who buys something is bitterly disappointed. It doesn't make any sense. So we're all about transparency, truth. We want to go ahead and provide as much information as we can.
Lance Graulich 00:13:04 I, love it. And you alluded to the fact that you have quite a few franchisees that are now multi unit or becoming multi unit operators. As I was in the franchise restaurant business with Wingstop and Krispy Kreme Donuts in the distant past, that was certainly a sure sign of health in the brand. How many people are willing to do it again and again and again and do more locations? So, I applaud you for all of that. Let's talk about, you talked about technology, talk about who you're really looking for. Who is Michael and team looking for? How do you know when you have the right franchisee? How much experience do they need? What experience do they need?
Michael 00:13:46 that's a great question. So our mission is to provide opportunity for folks to pursue the American dream of owning their own business. As corny as that sounds, the reason why we have so much staff is our folks need no experience. They need to have the financial resources so they aren't stretched too thin. We're not going to let people, as we say here in Colorado, get over the tips of their skis. but we provide a tremendous amount of training and support and communication and resources so people can be successful. And what they need to have is they need to have work ethic. They need to understand that just because you buy a franchise business or any business, you're going to have to put in some hours. You got to focus on building a team. And that helps you reduce your hours. But that's not going to happen overnight. And you need to listen. You need to be coachable. You don't buy a franchise to go ahead and set your own direction. You buy a franchise so you can leverage all of the mistakes and the successes of the past. And at least here we've got 20 something years of experiences and an operations manual that's super thick and a whole lot of people that will teach you how to execute and support you to success. But I think that's the key to everything is if we have the obligation I'm sorry, if we have the responsibility of allowing folks in with no business experience or no restaurant experience, we have the obligation to provide the resources to help them be successful.
Lance Graulich 00:15:24 Yeah, that's awesome. Absolutely fantastic. Now obviously, hard work is the first major ingredient. And then you add in all of your support and great training. But um, you have owners that aren't terribly active. You have, an opportunity where people can be a semi absentee owner, as well. Talk a little bit about that or the Sherpa model.
Michael 00:15:49 we do, especially these multi unit owners. Once you get there and you've built the team and you know what you're doing, everyone has to spend some time understanding the business. They just invested a bunch of money into building. Once they understand the business, they understand the rhythms of the business. They've built a team, then they can go into multi unit there has to be someone, even if you're an absentee owner, who knows what the heck they're doing in there. What's interesting, and I say this quite a bit, a lot of folks want to be entrepreneurs. They want to own their own business. And why do they want typically it's, I want freedom. I want freedom to write my own ticket. I want freedom to work for myself and work really hard where I'm the beneficiary. They want to go ahead and spend time with their family. But you've got to earn that. You have to put the time in before you really can benefit from being an entrepreneur and investing. We talk about investment a lot around here is you've got to invest the time and the energy and the resources to get, um, the right to be able to be an absentee owner.
Lance Graulich 00:16:59 I love it. That makes perfect sense. So if you're going to look at your top 10% of high performing franchisees that you're just super proud of at this moment, what do they look like and where did they come from? I'm always interested to know, are they, any similarities other than they maybe just worked hard?
Michael 00:17:21 You asked the question earlier, what do we look for? We don't necessarily look for people with money. We don't look for folks who have experience. We look for attitude. Why are they looking to own their own business? The biggest question we ask is why now? Because we want to understand what their motivation is and are they running towards something or away from something? Do they hate their boss? If you're calling us because you hate your boss, that's not good enough motivation for spending the rest of your life or the next ten years of your life building a business. If you're running towards something and you've always dreamed of owning your own business, and you want, a, franchise or who's going to really help you accomplish that? That's what we're looking for. Folks who I said it earlier, Coachability, is something that we really look for. Are you willing to listen to the experience that all of the team has and the other franchisees? One thing I haven't talked about is in a good franchise system, you've got franchisees who want you to be successful. The best resource in a franchise system are the other franchisees. It's not necessarily the franchise or the franchise or provides all kinds of scale. They can provide technology. They can provide resource and development. They can provide buying power of, uh, the entire community. But the franchisees are the ones who are going to have the experience to walk you through the challenges, to walk you through the ideas and the best practices. And that's really the strength in any good franchise system, is a franchise or that facilitates communication amongst the franchisees.
Lance Graulich 00:19:08 I love it. You're dropping some great stuff here. Nothing mad about this. I mean, this is really great stuff. Michael I tell people all the time when I'm helping them pick out their brand and people are talking about the restaurant business. So many people think it's a sexy business. They could feed their families, they can feed themselves, or whatever it might be. and at the end of the day, you said it earlier, it's a lot of hard work. There's perishable goods, there's employees that maybe aren't that skilled, that maybe can get a job down the street doing the same thing. So how do you help them? Let's talk about the training. What does the training entail to get these folks that maybe don't have any experience up to speed?
Michael 00:19:53 Well, let me say this. I think any business is hard if you're really going to be successful at any business, it's just difficult. There's a learning curve and there's the hours, and there's the mind share, and there's the anxiety and there's the stress. I make it sound horrible, but there's a whole bunch of us who just realistic, right? It is realistic. And we embrace the challenge of doing that. Wow, I forgot your question, I'm sorry.
Lance Graulich 00:20:22 no, we were talking about, just training. and we were just talking about being realistic and the training that people go through. we were talking about hiring as well.
Michael 00:20:34 Yeah, we do a lot of training on all aspects of the business. Making the food is the easy part. M, servicing the customer, being present. How do you deal with certain situations with employees? How do you hire employees? Where do you find them? How do you identify stars? there's so much that's involved with running a business. And how can we as a franchisor provide that experience? And how can we communicate that experience? How can we reiterate that experience? We provide business coaches that come in upon request to help everybody look at their financials every single month to determine how they can make more money to help them through some of the challenges that exist in running a business. So it's initial training, it's also follow up training. We provide mad you, which is digital. And how do we use that technology where when you bring on a new employee, how do you train them? Here's all the resources that a good franchise or provides. And that coaching because there's going to be things that don't exist in the operations manual and that no one's ever seen before. How can we as a team, how can the other franchisees and how can the franchise or provide the support to overcome those issues?
Lance Graulich 00:21:57 Awesome. You had mentioned, u a lot of key ingredients, I think, that go into, uh, your secret sauce. The value proposition of Teriyaki Madness. I've heard that terminology thrown around. You want to talk about that value overall? I mean, I think we touched on some of it.
Michael 00:22:13 I think different people value different things. And how does a franchiseor flex to meet the needs of someone who has a whole lot of experience, and like, you have multiple wing spot Wingstops, or Krispy Kremes. Those are great brands. And, thank you for comparing us to some of those brands. We have to go ahead and provide the resources as a culture and a community to the entire group.I think that's one of the most important aspects of a franchise, or as candidates, franchisees or people looking for a franchise. I think the most important thing is understanding the culture of that franchise and the culture of that community. Because if there isn't a cultural match, then, boy, there's some friction there. And it doesn't make life happy for either the franchisee, or the franchise, or the other franchisees. So we really focus on, does that person match our culture and do they match our community? So, as we go through our, uevaluation process, the last people to evaluate the candidate, someone who wants to join our community, are the franchisees. They're the most important part. They'll talk to me, and I'll approve a candidate to go talk to the franchisees and use up a little bit of their valuable time. But if the franchisees give us a thumbs up, we know that we're on the right track.
Lance Graulich 00:23:53 I love it. That's brilliant. It also makes perfect sense, that collaboration you mentioned earlier, that's wonderful. So, uh, let's talk about some exciting news. I mean, look, you're the number one, fastest growing, fast casual, chain there is. And, you got some exciting news with franchise. You want to talk a little bit about that and what that's all about?
Michael 00:24:16 Yeah, as you mentioned earlier, a lot of our franchisees, the majority are expanding into multiple units. They found the value of the brand and how they want to go ahead and continue to grow. That's our job as a franchiseor. That tells us that we're doing a good job. People are profitable, they're happy, they like us well, most of the time, and they like the community of the other franchisees. Franchise is just another funding source for us. It's a different way of doing things. They want to be equity partners with great franchisees who have proven themselves to be good, business owners. It's our job as a franchiseor to help our franchisees overcome some of the constraints if they want to grow. And perhaps the banks have, the interest rates have grown, the SBA has gotten a little bit more expensive. The banks are tightening up, especially recently. This is just another solution to some of those constraints our franchisees are experiencing. The nice thing is the franchisees who really want to grow, they can choose a few different ways to grow, whether it's debt financing through a bank or the SBA, or it's equity finance through franchise. And what's really an ego boost for me is out of all the what lance, correct me if I'm wrong, where are the 3000 5000 franchisors?
Lance Graulich 00:25:47 There's at least 4000 plus for sure.
Michael 00:25:50 A gazillion of them. They chose two to work with, with their fund and we're one of them. And that says volumes of the quality of our business model.
Lance Graulich 00:26:01 Yeah, I love it. No, that's really fantastic. And like you said, options are good. Whether franchisees want to expand through debt financing or equity financing. All great options. let's go on to marketing a little bit. You touched on a little bit earlier. When you're a new franchisee, what is the secret sauce, so to speak, to uh, getting off the ground quickly and efficiently, getting to break even and getting to make money with the teriyaki madness?
Michael 00:26:29 Well, there's an old saying in marketing is when there's stress on a business, the first thing people cut is the marketing budget. Boy, I've been around for a long time and that is one of the biggest mistakes I see new franchisees or old franchisees make. Marketing shouldn't be, broadcast marketing in my mind, is a dinosaur. You've got to be a pretty big brand to be doing broadcast marketing. That being television or even radio or print marketing. One can target your customer so directly through social media, through digital advertising, through influencers, through even direct mail is still applicable. We use all of that. So a good franchise or has not only a good way to spend the money, but they've got a voice that is different from everyone else. We talk about point of differentiation constantly here. How do we stand out? How do we make sure that we're not lost in the noise of everything else? And we have a pretty irreverent voice for those who look at our website or our marketing. There are some things there are pretty edgy and we're very proud of that. Uh, we tell marketing, you know what, we should get a complaint or two from our marketing. We don't want everybody to agree with who we are and we don't need to do that. Our fans are super loyal and we don't need everyone. So my best piece of advice to new franchisees is trust the franchise. Or um, you wouldn't have become part of a franchise system if you didn't agree with their marketing tactics or their voice, or their messaging, or their branding. So now that you have trust that they know how to spend the money and trust in how much they tell you to spend. Because we don't want you to spend more than you need to. We want you to be profitable. But the very first thing out of the gate is you've got to build your business. I hate to say this, but profitability is secondary. Straight out of the gate, you've got to build your customer base and then the profitability will come.
Lance Graulich 00:28:45 And I think it was Steve Jobs that said that for years.
Michael 00:28:49 I'm sure he stole it from me.
Lance Graulich 00:28:51 Yeah, I think he did. I read that somewhere.
Michael 00:28:53 Michael.
Lance Graulich 00:28:56 So, let's talk about all these people listening that are thinking themselves, I don't know what business I should do. I don't even know what industry I should do. I should probably do something myself. Maybe a franchise is right for me. Michael, with all your experience all these years talking to people, prospective franchisees candidates, as we typically call them, what advice do you have for those listening as to how do they know? I mean, obviously it all starts with what their investment level is, what level of ownership they're going to take. Are they going to run this thing full time? They're going to hire a manager? But what's your advice for somebody listening?
Michael 00:29:36 I see this advice to do what you're passionate about. You know what I've never been passionate about? Smoothies popcorn or teriyaki.
Lance Graulich 00:29:46 I love it.
Michael 00:29:47 I'm passionate about helping people. Whether it's franchisees or employees or customers, eat something that's delicious, that is healthier for them. I believe that the business that you choose. If you like customers, you're going to want something to be transactional. If you want to be a, u consultant, you want to really spend time helping people, then perhaps that's the business. If you like sales, then get into something that you're selling a whole lot of and you're going out there and you're selling new business. If you like operations, then you need to focus on problem solving and building processes and systems and really focusing on execution. That's really my biggest piece of advice for folks building a business. Aside from what I've talked about, there is no question in my mind, and I've put over 1000 people into business before in different businesses is you've got to get ready to roll up your sleeves and work hard. It doesn't mean hours, although you will put in the hours, it doesn't mean you're going to be tired and your muscle is going to be sore at the end of the day. Doesn't necessarily mean that what it is is this mind share. Good business owners think about their business all the time. They think about their employees, they think about marketing, they think about operations, they think about sales. And I could go on and on and on. You don't need to, uh, want to do accounting. You don't need to be passionate about accounting. You can hire someone, but you need to have a pretty good idea of what that someone is doing. And that goes back to that hard work. But passion, it's great if you can be passionate about something. I'm passionate about building. I build businesses. It's really fun for me. And if I've achieved any modicum of success, that perhaps is why.
Lance Graulich 00:31:49 Yeah, that's awesome. Great advice. Now, so final, uh, thoughts for today. So much here, but so much great stuff you've shared. Final thoughts, final words of wisdom for the listeners today?
Michael 00:32:03 Well, obviously I'm a pretty opinionated guy, but if you're looking for a franchise, the most. Important thing is to make sure that you really do a, lot of research on their culture. What are their beliefs, what are their values? To make sure that you agree with the direction that the business is going, the way that the business is run. And dig into the community. Talk to franchisees. I know everyone says that, and I'm always a bit surprised at how few franchisees candidates talk to, but make sure that that cultural match is there and make sure that you'll fit into the community because I'll say it again, because it's so important. If you don't match the culture, you're not going to match the community, you're not going to have a whole lot of allies because you're going to disagree with a lot of them. And that is very painful. That's the piece you need to look at more than anything. A good franchise or won't be selling you anything, nor will the franchisees who are already in the system. Um, those franchisees want people who are like them to be part of the community and they will invest the time to make sure that you're a good match, not only for you, but mostly for them.
Lance Graulich 00:33:19 Such great advice, Michael. Michael, thank you so much for being here and, uh, look forward to watching your success and the madness continue across the country. Michael Haith teriyaki Madness.
Michael 00:33:32 Thank you very much. My pleasure.
Lance Graulich 00:33:34 Thank you very much for listening today. Please like, follow and subscribe. This is Lance Graulich. Until next time. You thank you very much for listening today. Please like, follow and subscribe. This is Lance Graulich. Until next time.